Background:1Portugal lies on the periphery of Europe's western seaboard and
is bordered by Spain to the north and east. In addition to its mainland
on the most western part of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal also has two
archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean - the Azores and the Madeira Islands.
The main language is Portuguese, a Romance language which has been enriched
by Arabic and other tongues. It is the language used in Brazil, as well
as other former Portuguese colonies, including Mozambique and Angola.

Portugal was a monarchy from the 11th century until 1910 when a revolution
led to the creation of a republic. In 1932, Dr. Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
became prime minister and established a right-wing regime which lasted
until 1968. His successor, who also was right-wing, was overthrown by a
military coup in 1974. After a period of political turmoil, a new Constitution
was ratified which committed Portugal to make a transition to Socialism.
The Constitution was revised in 1989 when Marxist elements were removed.
Today, the government is a unicameral parliamentary democracy and the country
an EU Member State and NATO member.

Portugal became a member of the European Community in 1986. It is
considered a high-income, developed country with moderate industrialization.
Its main industries are textiles, clothing, footwear, food, wine, pharmaceuticals,
wood, cork, paper, glassware and machinery. It has modern steelworks and
two shipbuilding and repair yards at Lisbon and Setubal. A number of hydroelectric
power stations and a new thermal power station serve the nations needs.

Some key country indicators are listed below: (Source: Instituto
Nacional de Estatistica, 1995)

Population:
10.5 million

Gross Domestic Product: $103.5
billion

GDP/Capital
$10,457

Unemployment
7.2%

Inflation
4.1%

Information Technology Background:The World
Paper Online Information Imperative June 1996 Index categorizes
Portugal as a "Stroller" in its efforts to embrace the information age
and become an information society. Since becoming an EU Member, Portugal
has made significant strides to catch up with other industrialized countries
and Member States; yet its overall evolution is characterized as somewhat
lower than the most advanced countries, such as the United States, Sweden,
and Canada, as well as its counterparts in the Union, with the exception
of Greece, Ireland and Spain. Recently, it has aggressively embraced and
promoted several new technologies, but over the past ten years it has primarily
relied upon gradually enhancing technologies and infrastructures with the
help of EU structural funds.

Format of Report:The Bangemann Report has been used as a framework for analyzing
the measures Portugal has taken to develop its infrastructure in the sphere
of information. The Bangemann Report's Recommendations to the European
Council, defined in 1994, outlined the basis and necessary means for action
for Europe in the global information society. Its key areas of recommendations
for Member States and the Union overall included guidelines for the regulatory
framework, definitions of a requisite legal foundation, and descriptions
of the evolutionary paths for networks, basic services and advanced applications
for information technology. Please refer to http://www2.echo.lu/eudocs/en/report.html
to read more about the report's contents.

The
World Paper Online's Information Imperative Index2
identifies variables that have the most direct connection with a Country's
access to, and its ability to absorb and utilize, information. Results
are normalized based upon regression analysis to allow meaningful comparisons
between small countries and large ones. Rankings are assigned based on
three categories which measure a country's social, information and computer
infrastructures. An overall score is also assigned. Top ranked countries
are categorized as "Power Walkers" to represent their established infrastructures
and computer literate populations. "Striders" are those nations who are
moving purposefully in the direction of an Information Society with both
caution and conviction. "Strollers" progress in a steady, yet slower pace,
while "Meanderers" move without any great haste due to prohibitive infrastructure
costs, limited consumer demand and cultural fear.